Any interest in a headphone/amp "History Thread"?

One of the things I've found interesting when poking around the For Sale threads is how often I read "bought from head-fi'er x" or "originally owned by x". To me, it hints at what an interesting history some of the items must have. The For Sale sections currently include feedback threads to help us get to know and trust other sellers/buyers. I was thinking it might be fun to add a "History" section for items changing hands on head-fi. Users could research not just the seller, but also the items, when it changed hands, who had it, maybe what they thought of it.

To lay out how this might work I'll use the recent sale of my Little Dot MKIII. Being the original owner, when posting a FS thread I could also start a history thread for it, including the serial (if there is one), condition, and maybe pictures. Once sold, and for every subsequent sale, the seller could post to the history thread adding their impressions and who it went to.

As the history builds, potential buyers would view the FS post then the history post to get an idea of the overall life of the product, what people thought of it, mods they've done to it, overall impressions, etc. Buyers could also ask questions of past owners if their opinion was of particular interest.

It would be a bit more work for the seller, and obviously there is alot of history not captured except through subsequent FS posts, but beyond the initial start of an item's history thread, it should only take a minute or two to add an update as it changes hands.

What are people's thoughts? Interesting idea? Waste of time? Crazy talk?

--Faulk

Yea, it would require more work, especially up front with the initial thread creation. And your right - the chances of people keeping them up with any consistency is unlikely, which almost completely undermines the value of them.

I think the first thing would be deciding where it should live. Then, as people want to, adding threads for their items. Once added the threads could take on a life of their own as they change hands. For the first few months/year it won't be all that interesting, but as time passes and more and more history gets added it could really become a usable and fun resource.

I like the sound of Team Girl-Fi - if there's a meet let me know. I want to crash... (if you're reading this wife, I'm just kidding)

 

So, it seems like the new system incorporates this very functionality or at least just about. With the new "List" features that include "Own It" and "Had It" people can add the item to their list, maybe with the serial for identification and thoughts in the description. That then gets compiled directly under the Head Gear thread for the item. The only thing would be for users to make sure they select the item from the search results when adding to their list rather than adding it manually (like I did for my lists. d'oh). Otherwise it won't appear in the Gear thread.

 

Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like you can search these items to find specific serials or that the description is accessible without going to each user's profile page, but that might be a possible future tweak.

 

@tvrboy - I see your points, and with the new system it would be an optional thing for people to do that would provide a resource for others. Not a requirement or gospel history by any means. This would also divorce the history from the sales process to avoid your scenario 3. In terms of Scenario 2, looking like an idiot on the internet is unavoidable (here I am, posting my ridiculous idea).

 

@Drag0n, @earthpeople, and @InFn-0, You're right that researching and compiling a history for all headphone related items would be a tremendous undertaking and I'm definitely no historian (still a Junior here). Letting the history build itself as people add to their lists is the only way this could possibly work.